When it comes to Google Ads, your Quality Score is a critical factor that can significantly impact your campaign’s performance. Whether you’re a seasoned advertiser or new to the game, understanding Quality Scores is essential for a successful digital marketing or advertising campaign.
In this blog, we’ll delve into what quality score is, why it’s important, and most importantly, how to optimise it for better results.
What is a Google Ads Quality Score?
Quality Scores were released in 2005, but they have evolved a long way since their introduction. Quality Score is Google’s way of rating the quality and relevance of both your keywords and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads. It’s a numeric score that ranges from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. This score reflects how well your keywords, ads, and landing pages align with what users are searching for.
The Importance of Quality Score
Quality Score plays a pivotal role in the success of your Google Ads campaigns for several reasons, including:
- Ad Ranking & Position: Your Quality Score directly affects your ad’s position in search results. The higher your score, the better your ad placement, allowing you to outperform competitors with lower scores.
- Cost-Per-Click (CPC): A higher Quality Score can lead to a lower CPC. Google rewards advertisers who provide a good user experience, so you pay less for each click.
- Visibility: Better Quality Scores can also lead to greater ad visibility, increasing your chances of attracting potential customers.
How Quality Scores Are Measured
Google assesses the quality of your ads through a range of components that are linked to user experience. The more relevant and engaging your ads are, the more Google will reward you by bumping them up the ranks for more users to see.
The 3 key components Google looks at are:
- Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR): This predicts the likelihood of users clicking on your ads when viewing them.
- Ad Relevance: This measures how much your content correlates with user intent, especially in relation to keywords.
- Landing Page Experience: This evaluates the behaviour of users who click on your ad, emphasising user experience and content relevance.
Monitoring Your Quality Score
Consistent monitoring is essential for any digital marketing or advertising strategy and your Google ads are no different. Fortunately, Google makes it simple to keep track of your Quality Scores through your Google Ads account.
To check your Quality Score simply:
- Open your Google Ads account and navigate to the “Keywords” section.
- Then click on the columns icon on the upper right-hand side of the table.
- Finally, select “Modify columns for keywords” and select “Quality Score.”
This will allow you to check and modify your keywords and ads as necessary.
How to Improve Your Quality Score
Now that you know the basic essentials of Quality Scores, the last thing to cover is how to improve them. This is arguably the most important thing to know about Quality Scores or any other digital marketing tool for that matter.
Here are a few ways you can improve your Quality Score:
Keyword Research
Keywords are one of the most important components of your Google ads, so make sure they’re high quality. Conduct thorough keyword research to ensure your keywords are relevant to your ads and landing pages.
Try to create and use a range of keywords including long-tail keywords, specific product names, and more generic ones to funnel your target audience to your landing page.
Relevant keywords help your audience and Google understand the specific messaging of your ads to rank them higher and which search queries to push them for.
Compelling Ad Copy
Craft ad copy that speaks directly to the user’s query. Highlight the key benefits and unique selling points of your product or service. Also, include the best-performing keywords in the headline, description and URL slug. This has 2 major benefits:
- Viewers will clearly see and understand how your ad and business relate to their search query.
- Google will perceive a higher ad relevance, which will help boost your Quality Score.
Optimise Landing Pages
Remember, landing page experience is one of the key components for measuring your Quality Score. So, ensure your landing pages provide a seamless and relevant user experience.
You can do this by:
- Keeping the messaging relevant and consistent.
- Using the most relevant URL for each ad/ad group.
- Monitoring your bounce rate and lowering it.
- Ensuring it loads quickly and is mobile-friendly,
Negative Keywords
With technology, it’s easy for your ads to end up being misplaced online and showing up in searches they aren’t relevant to. Implement negative keywords to prevent your ads from appearing in irrelevant searches.
Stay on top of this by monitoring the search queries your ads show up for each week. Keep excluding any irrelevant searches by adding them as negative keywords.
Ad Extensions
Use ad extensions to provide additional information and make your ads more appealing. While Ad extensions don’t directly impact your Quality Score, they can increase your CTR, which in turn can help boost your Quality Score.
Ad extensions allow you to increase the space your ads take up in the search engine and provide users with additional information. Be sure to keep the extra information clear, engaging and relevant to the ad, landing page and keywords.
Quality Over Quantity
Focus on a smaller set of high-quality, relevant keywords. While it can be tempting to fill your ads with as many keywords as possible, avoid the temptation! Google doesn’t like keyword stuffing and will not reward it.
It’s best to stick to a few specific and relevant keywords for each ad to keep the messaging clear for both Google and your viewers.
Regular Monitoring
The key to constant and consistent improvement is monitoring results. By continuously monitoring your campaigns for performance you will be able to spot any issues or ineffective ads quickly and make adjustments.
Leaving underperforming ads sitting is essentially a money pit, keep them working for you and you’ll consistently receive results.
Improve Your Google Ads Quality Score Through Optimisation
Optimising your Google Ads Quality Score is an ongoing process. It requires dedication, regular assessment, and a commitment to improving your campaigns over time. By focusing on the key components of Quality Score, conducting research, and staying up-to-date with industry best practices, you can make your Google Ads campaigns not only cost-effective but highly successful.
So, get started on your Quality Score optimisation journey today and watch your Google Ads campaigns soar.
